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Can A Cyst Cause Coughing, Excessive Mucus Production, Swelling And Soreness In The Neck Alongwith Enlarged Thyroid Gland?

Posted on Fri, 13 Apr 2012

Question: I was given the diagnosis os Hashimoto's Disease around 15 or more years ago . I am a 56 yr. old woman. I take my daily sythroid pill everyday, a dose to keep my levels right, which I have checked every 6mos. or so with my primary. Recently I was feeling horrible, my blood worked showed a very elevated TSH level, like 7.42.. I was having other symptoms also.. went to dr. when she felt that my thyroid was enlarged. She sent me for an ultrasound.. which showed that I have a 6mm cyst on the right side. I have been feeling very sick. Coughing alot, heart palps., tons of mucus in my throat, trouble swallowing, almost choking at night on my own salivia while sleeping. could that little cyst be causing all this. I am so tired. I feel shaky also. She uped my dose of synthroid to .88 I was on .75. that was two weeks ago. My apt. with the endo. is not until May 12th. Oh.. My neck and is swollen also, now the lump isin't real big, but I do feel the cyst, and my neck is very sore there. When it first started I was actually having a slight pain there. That sort of went away. I am sorry for the long writing... I was just wanting to know... should I have this cyst tested for cancer? could this cyst be causing all this mucus in my throat, and all this gagging and me coughing? I can't stand it. Should I wait till May 12th. Some one told me to go to the er. Should I? Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Raju A.T (2 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query,

The symptoms you have are probably due to low thyroid hormone (T3 and T4) levels in the blood , which is suppported by high Tsh levels.The chocking in the throat as one possibility could be due to edema in the throat ( caused by hypothyroidism) and the other could be due to the cyst pressing aginst the trachea.

If there is a faster progression in the cyst size associated with weight loss and appetite loss then I would suggest you to rule out cancer by a Radio Iodine scan .The scan can be more informative to the Endocrinologist you will go in next month.

Need not worry the smtomps you have will surely come down as you are placed on increased dose of the synthroid.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any follow up queries I will be available to answer them.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Raju A.T (2 hours later)

Due to the Cyst pressing on the Trachea...do you think I should have the cyst removed?

I have been on the higher dose of synthroid for three weeks now... and the cyst seems like its grower not shrinking.

So far I have not lost any weight... and although sometimes hard to swallow, I still feel hungry at times.

Answered by Dr. Raju A.T (14 minutes later)

Hi again,

The cyst removal can be decided based on the size and the confirmation on the fact tat it is having pressure effects on trachea.Also the radio Iodine scan will add to this.

Sometimes even when not cancer the cysts go unrelated to the synthroid dosage.

Good to read that you do not have weight loss , but this reason may not be enough to avoid the radio iodine scan.

Hope I have answered your doubts,

Wish you Good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Raju A.T (8 minutes later)

In the mean time doctor is there anything that I could do to get rid of the mucus that i seem to have in my throat? Do you think that the cyst could be causing this?

Answered by Dr. Raju A.T (16 hours later)

Hi Again ,

Its unlikely that the cause of excess mucus production is because of cyst. Cyst should be very big to cause obstruction for swallowing for food or saliva.
The excess of mucus production is not known to associated with hypothyroidism or cyst of thyroid.
The excess mucus production may be because of Acute/chronic upper respiratory tract infection(like chronic pharyngitis, chronic sinusitis etc..) /which might have exaggerated . A clinical throat examination can only reveal the cause, so i suggest you to see a GP(General practitioner) for this problem.

Hope i answered your query.

Wish you Good health.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar